Age-related contextual cueing features are more evident in reaction variability than in reaction time

Abstract

Visual-spatial contextual cueing learning underpins the daily lives of older adults, enabling them to navigate their surroundings, perform daily activities, and maintain cognitive function. While the contextual cueing effect has received increasing attention from researchers, the relationship between this cognitive ability and healthy ageing remains controversial. To investigate whether visual-spatial contextual cueing learning declines with age, we examined the contextual learning patterns of older (60–71 years old) and younger adults (18–26 years old) using a contextual-guided visual search paradigm and response variability measurements. We observed significant contextual learning effects in both age groups, impacting response speed and variability, with these effects persisting for at least 24 days. However, older adults required more repetitions and memorised fewer repeated stimuli during initial learning. Interestingly, their long-term memory maintenance appeared stronger, as their contextual facilitation persisted in both response speed and variability, while younger adults only persisted in response speed but not variability. Overall, our results suggest an age-related complex and diverse contextual cueing pattern, with older adults showing weaker learning but stronger long-term memory maintenance compared with younger adults.